Apple iWatch: Real or imaginary?

We separate the facts from fiction surrounding the fabled Apple iWatch

We separate the facts from fiction surrounding the fabled Apple iWatch.

We normally cover phones in this section. That’s mainly because there are so many companies struggling to release the next iPhone or Galaxy S II/III. With competition so stiff, we hear rumours and speculations about pretty much every company’s attempt to break the mould.

And once in a while we get to talk about products that are game changers — products that could possibly change how we interact with existing technology. One such product, being touted as a game changer, is the iWatch. Reported by the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg, the concept of a smartwatch from the uber-successful smartphone manufacturer received some weight after being in limbo since 2011.

The earliest rumours of a smartwatch began after a customer-driven push for the makeshift iPod Nano ‘watch’ brought about watchstraps expressly made for the miniscule music player. Apple even responded by including new watch faces in successive software updates. Strangely, Apple overhauled the design of the Nano in its latest refresh of the iPod line-up (some specualte that it was to keep a size category open for the possibility of a smartwatch).

Now, about a year ago, the rumours about the iPad Mini were gaining ground, despite Apple’s insistence that they were just rumours. We did, as you obviously know, see the release of the diminutive tablet late last year. With no word from Apple, but a barrage of rumours touting smartglass designs for this smartwatch, it seems like history’s repeating itself this year.

Those who’ve invested in the current range of smartwatches to connect their iPhones have received, in some instances, not only phone, text and calendar notifications, but notifications from other apps as well. This bug could be a sign that Apple’s getting the groundwork in for a connected smartwatch that provides notifications for virtually all apps on a user’s iPhone, and possibly performs other functions like NFC. We’ll have to wait for an Apple event to see if the watch will also be able to tell time.